Today’s a great day for classic masterpieces at the AFI Fest. I would not discourage anybody from catching John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence,” Jacques Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” or Bernardo Bertolucci’s new 3-D edition of “The Last Emperor.”

If you only pick one, though, it simply has to be “The Marriage of Maria Braun.” Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1979 take on West Germany’s postwar economic miracle is a scathing indictment of ruthless capitalism — and, what makes it great, just as unforgiving a portrait of conjugal devotion. Fassbinder bundles irony and humanism tighter than a fascist axe, and Hanna Schygulla is both luminous and horrifying as the unswervingly pragmatic title bride.

Check back for updates from AFI Fest and more reviews by Los Angeles News Group reporter Bob Strauss.